Joycelyn Barnett
Director
Joy provides strategic communications counsel to companies across industries on a wide range of special situations, including mergers and acquisitions, shareholder activism defense, restructurings and bankruptcies and management changes. She also assists clients with ongoing investor relations, corporate communications and crisis preparedness and management.
Recent Highlights
Select Experience
M&A / Transactions
She advises clients in friendly and unsolicited transactions. Notable assignments include: Foot Locker in its acquisition by DICK'S Sporting Goods; HashiCorp in its sale to IBM; Aerojet Rocketdyne in its sale to L3Harris; Fiserv in its merger with First Data; U.S. Concrete in its sale to Vulcan Materials; Simply Good Foods in its acquisition of Quest; 3M when it combined its Food Safety business with Neogen; and Callon Petroleum in its acquisition of Carrizo Oil & Gas.
Shareholder Activism
She has supported companies in public and private activist situations opposite some of the most notable activist investors, including Elliott Management, Starboard Value, Carl Icahn, Barington Capital and Third Point, among others.
Restructuring and Bankruptcy
She has experience with both out-of-court restructurings and in-court filings under Chapter 11. Notable assignments include Barneys New York, JOANN Fabrics, At Home, Frontier Communications, High Ridge Brands, JCPenney and LSC Communications.
Crisis Communications
She assists and advises companies facing a variety of crisis situations, including management succession and unplanned leadership changes, data breaches, facility closures and workforce reductions, environmental issues, regulatory inquiries, earnings surprises and litigation.
Investor Relations and Public Relations
She works with clients to enhance their overall communications strategy, including corporate positioning and message development, quarterly earnings preparation, investor conferences, thought leadership activities and employee communications.
In Conversation
Personal Side
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Credentials
Joy joined Joele Frank in 2018. She received a BA in Strategic, Legal and Management Communication from Howard University.